A Tale of Two Cats
by astronomist
Summary: There's a world of differences between a street-smart city cat and a domestic house cat, isn't there? Based on "Ah, It's A Wonderful Cat's Life!", Miku/Luka


Hello there! Pleasure to meet you all, I hope you guys enjoy the read. This will, probably, be about 3-4 chapters in length. I don't intend to make it very long, but I hope that it's enough to please the readers!

This is based off of Len and Gumi's song, _"Ah, It's A Wonderful Cat's Life"_! Give the song a listen if you haven't heard of it.

Any and all comments and constructive criticism is appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of the story except the writing itself; Miku, Luka and the other mentioned Vocaloid characters are all property of their respective manufacturing companies. I'm simply a writer who likes to write for non-profit. Unless you'd consider the urge to fangirl every moment of my life as profit from writing.

* * *

"Hahhh, it sure is nice out today!"

With the sun over her head, and not a cloud in sight, it wouldn't be unusual for a cat like her to be around and about in search of something to do today. Miku stretched her arms over her head, getting a good knot out of her back. Sleeping in the alley wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but if she slept the wrong way or position then it surely was uncomfortable.

Not that something as simple as sleeping in the wrong position would stop her from having a good day, anyway!

Living the life of a street cat, free and roaming the city to do whatever she pleased without an owner or master was the life of the luxurious! She could do whatever she wanted and however she wanted, she'd never get in (any major) trouble for causing a ruckus. Miku could slip into the back alleys, take all the short cuts some of the other cats didn't know about, get to places faster than others could. She could sniff out the best places to find food and she was definitely able to get the latest gossip from her friends, whether it be from engaging in conversation to even seeking out the information herself!

She grinned to herself, casually strolling out of the alleyway onto the streets. Being a free cat was definitely the best way to live life.

Miku wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

"Luka, it's time for breakfast!"

Her masster had placed the dish in front of her on the table, a piece of toast with a side of sashimi tuna that, for the longest time, was Luka's favorite breakfast dish. Well, tuna in general was her most favorite food ever, but with a side of toast it was even more delicious!

"Thank you, Lily," she replied quietly, and then she was left to her own devices. Her master, Masuda Lily, was of the age where school was a priority to her (much to her owner's chagrin; Lily didn't quite enjoy school) and had to leave as soon as she had breakfast for Luka ready. Thankfully, the pink cat was always awake just before her master, so it wasn't much trouble to go through their early morning routine.

Waving her off, Lily had disappeared out the kitchen and out the door. Luka had the house to herself now.

She saw that the sun was already shining into the kitchen through the window; it seemed like it was warm out, sunny and a day perfect for spending it outside. She wasn't one to go on adventures, wasn't one to go on walks or explore the city, but Luka liked it when it was sunny out and she could take a leisurely nap in the shade of a tree. And then, when she woke up, Lily would arrive home just in time and they'd spend a quiet evening together.

Luka enjoyed being cared for enough to be grateful for the presence of her master. She had never lived any other kind of life, but if she was asked which kind of lifestyle she wanted to live, there would be no doubt that she'd choose a pampered one. She liked having food available to her, liked the attention her master gave her and she enjoyed the relaxation that came with it. She could sleep whenever she wanted, she could take part in the company of Lily and she could eat delicious, fancy tuna that her master provided for her.

A relaxing, pampered lifestyle was definitely for her.

Luka wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

She found it particularly odd that there wasn't much life in the city right now, despite it being approximately noon. Miku had been taking a stroll to find something to do, but the usual places where she would find her friends were empty. She couldn't find anyone! Not Rin or Len, or Gumi, or Kaito or Meiko... She did happen to pass by Gakupo, but he seemed busy and couldn't talk at the moment.

Miku frowned, almost pouting. This wasn't any fun at all! It was a great - a beautiful - day outside, so why wasn't anyone around?

"Ahh, this is so frustrating! Isn't there anything to do?"

She was starting to get restless; days like this were rare, so she had no idea how to conquer her boredom. She had already eaten breakfast, not hungry enough for lunch quite yet, so there were really only a few options left. She thought about exploring the city, but she already knew most of the nooks and crannies well enough to be able to manuever through the city blindfolded... There was the possibility of going to the park, but even then, Miku didn't want to spend her dillydallying there.

So she continued to walk aimlessly, going wherever her feet decided to take her. There wasn't any point in thinking too much about what to do today, considering she had forever and ever to do what she wanted. That's right, as a free cat that had no chains to keep her from doing whatever she wanted, she could simply go wherever she wanted and it'd be fine. At least that'd be more exciting than simply spending the whole day thinking of what to do than actually doing something.

Her feet had eventually taken her to a more suburban part of the city, a neighborhood of a few houses lined up next to each other. They had fairly large yards, the nice white fences seemed to have just been repainting, from what Miku saw.

Knowing that she was heading into an area where street cats like herself were not very welcomed, she walked in anyway. It didn't stop her; in fact, the curiosity she had about the life of any domestic cat in the area made her want to explore more. She didn't bother with this part of the city before, only because she had so many ther things to do with her time.

"Pretty nice place, but it's definitely no alley," Miku mumbled, looking at the different house on either side of her. They were all different, sure, but they were also the same. They were built the same way, a similar structure found in each of the houses and they were painted in mostly the same color scheme.

_Boring_, she thought to herself.

It didn't seem like the neighborhood was very exciting, either! There was no life, no cars whirring by, no cats running around and playing, no humans to mess with and no one to talk to. How could anyone find this kind of place interesting at all?

But despite the first impression she had of the neighborhood, it didn't stop her from walking on.

What caught her eye, finally, as interesting and piquing her curiosity was a large tree in the front yard of one of the houses, a swing there attached to one of its branches. It looked fun, and it didn't seem like anyone was home... There were no cars in the driveway, which only confirmed her suspicion that no one was around to see her, right?

Carefully, Miku was started to making her way over the white fence of the house, when she heard a voice.

"What do you think you're doing?"

She stopped, one leg on each side of the fence. Turning her head, Miku was met with a pair of indifferent, blue eyes and a neat mess of pink hair. A cat who had the prettiest pink hair ever, might she add.

Taken by surprised, she didn't realize that she was leaning to one side and fell off the fence, face planted into the grass of the pink cat's yard.

She groaned, and noticed a shadow had casted over her. Looking up from the ground, Miku saw that the other cat had come to her side, a hand stretched out towards her... The look on the cat's face, though, was definitely not friendly. She looked gentle, sure, but Miku could tell from the thin line on the other's face that she probably wasn't welcomed.

Well, that was only to be expected from a domestic to street cat, wasn't it?

"Take my hand," the other cat had simply said, and Miku moved on her own; her hand reached up, her fingers grasped onto the outstretched hand and she was pulled up off the ground. Brushing her clothes of any dirt that might've gotten on them just now from the fall, she sheepishly scratched her cheek and bowed her head.

"I-I'm really sorry!" Miku apologized as best as she could, though she wasn't sure how she managed to stutter with something as simple as that... Her eyes caught glimpse of the pink cat again, her gaze caught by the astonishing sight she saw before her.

Miku didn't really know what to think at first; the cat before her was fairly tall, her pink hair flowed behind her with long sections of it covering her shoulders... Her ears were smaller than Miku's, she could tell, but it didn't seem out of place... Miku noticed that she was wearing a nice white blouse and black skirt, which contrasted her black long sleeved shirt and white short shorts. The other cat was pretty, beautiful even, but Miku knew that it was probably just because of that particular factor.

What seemed to catch most of her attention, was the fact that the pink cat had something around her neck.

It didn't take Miku an eternity to guess that that was a collar. This cat belonged to someone else.

* * *

Luka wasn't sure of what to make of the situation. She had come back up front from the back yard to check if the mail had come in, but instead of finding mail she found a teal-haired cat climbing over her fence. She cringed, watching the cat fall over into her yard, but...

There was something about that cat that had made Luka want to walk over and help her up.

So she did so.

There was a light flush of pink on the teal cat's face, she realized, as she quietly nodded and accepted the apology reluctantly. She wasn't sure how to deal with a random cat coming onto her property like this, considering it had never happened before. Most of the cats in the neighborhood stayed in their respective houses or yards, so the possibility of this teal feline to be one of her neighbors was slim. It was also apparent that she didn't have anything around her neck, either. This only made Luka's suspicions confirmed.

In other words, this cat was from the city. A street cat.

Her eyes narrowed.

"I'd like to know what you were planning on doing, climbing over my fence like that," she said, almost demanding of a reason. Her arms crossed over her chest. If this street cat wasn't going to give her a good reason for being here, it was better to chase her off as soon as she could. A relaxing afternoon under the shade of her tree shouldn't be ruined because some stranger had decided to show up.

The teal cat seemed nervous, though. It took a moment before she said anything, and Luka's eyes had met with the teal cat's. They stared at each other for a brief second, eyes locked on each other's, but the other cat had snapped out of it first and talked. Luka could only take a sharp inhale of a breath and forget about their locked eye contact just now.

"Well, you see," the other cat started, "The city's really boring today, you know? You probably wouldn't have expected it but for some reason none of the other cats were around!" Here, Luka watched as the tealette laughed, chuckling at her reasoning. "So I decided to take a walk, just kinda let my feet take me wherever it was they were going to take me and guess what! They took me to this neighborhood, and trust me, miss, I really wasn't going to intrude or anything!"

Luka saw a pleading look in the tealette's eyes. This made her skeptical. "You say that, but you ended up climbing over my fence anyway." She was calm; she wasn't a cat to overreact when someone was going to intrude on private property, but she was still appalled that someone would actually do the deed.

The teal cat grinned. "Uh, yeah - that happened, yeah. It did. Um - I just. I saw that tree of yours, right there," she pointed at it, "And when I came closer to your fence I saw the swing! There weren't any cars in your driveway so I thought no one was home. I thought I could just stay for a bit before going back into the city."

So she had found something that piqued her interest, and for the purpose of killing some time and to conquer boredom, this stray cat had started making her way into the yard.

"I'd like for you to - " but before Luka could finish her sentence, she was cut off.

"I'm really, really sorry! I'm usually a little more polite with something like this, heck, I probably would've asked you if I could use it but since no one was home I, ah, took the chance..." The teal cat's ear had started to droop, and there was this helpless look on her face that Luka determined was a feeling of guilt.

She was about to ask for the tealette to leave, but the look on her face caused for her to hesitate. That look of a sincere apology was... She wasn't sure how to put it. It was cute to her. Yes, perhaps that was the word Luka wanted to use. She bit the inside of her cheek a moment, giving this another thought before her lips quirked up into a half smile and she let out a sigh.

"You sound like you're quite sorry, so I won't press any charges today," Luka answered. Uncrossing her arms, she placed her hands at her hips instead. "And, I guess because I'm a nice cat... I'll let you use the swing." She saw the immediate light in the teal cat's eyes, and hastily she added, "But be gentle with it! It looks strong, but the ropes are starting to wear out a bit. I haven't had the heart to bother my master about it yet."

The teal cat's eyes were glimmering with something like excitement, the teal ears on her head standing straight much like an excited puppy's, and Luka couldn't help but feel like she did something right. Darn those pretty teal eyes.

"Wow, thanks a bunch, um... Oh, shoot." The tealette's ears drooped again.

"What is it?"

The other cat coughed, turned her head off to the side and Luka saw that light pink blush on her cheeks again. "I... didn't get to catch your name yet." Oh, so that was it.

"It's Luka."

She watched the ears and eyes brighten up again. Was this cat like a light bulb or something?

"It's really nice to meet you, Luka! I'm Miku!" And before she could say anything else, Luka was tackled by the street cat to the ground in a rough hug.

"H-Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" she called out, face flushed in pink that could match the very color of her hair.

"Hehe, just my way of saying thanks!"

* * *

Miku kicked her feet against the grass carefully; she had the great privilege to use the swing in Luka's yard, so it was only natural to take good care of the yard itself, wasn't it? She was a street cat, sure, and manners weren't emphasized in the city life, but she knew that it wouldn't be right to trash her yard when she had so rudely trespassed.

She found herself enjoying Luka's company. Miku glanced to her side, Luka sitting against the tree with a book in her lap. Peering over her shoulder, she tilted her head and squinted her eyes, trying to read the text in the book.

"Whatcha reading, Luka?"

"A book on astrology," she had replied simply. Miku nodded, as if understanding her.

"Ah, I see!" A pause. "... What's astrology?"

Luka's head turned up and their eyes met again. This time, Luka had an eyebrow arched and it looked like she might have been offended by Miku's question.

"You really don't know? Astrology is the study of space - stars, planets, the like."

"I see!" Miku nodded energetically, "You're really smart, Luka! You must learn a lot from your master, huh?"

Miku only knew what it took to survive in the city streets; she'd never had any sort of education, not that she could get any. There wasn't a school for cats or anything, and there wasn't anyone who'd be willing to teach a stray cat how to read and write... But Miku had learned the basics on her own. She read whatever newspapers were dumped in the recycling bins on the corners of streets and she practiced with Rin and Len a bunch of times. She could read a little bit, but it was probably no where near Luka's level.

"I just pick things up from her whenever she learns something new in school... I-It's not that big of a deal," she heard Luka mumbled and Miku could only smile in return.

"Hey, will you tell me what being with a master is like?" she asked her pink haired friend. It was a sincere, honest request. Miku didn't look at her when she asked, instead her eyes were focused on the blue sky above their heads. The sun was still out and still shining, just like it was earlier that morning when Miku woke up.

She wasn't sure if Luka was reluctant to or didn't want to, as she didn't hear any sort of immediate response, and Miku was quick to jump to the conclusion that maybe it was something not to talk about. "A-Ah, but only if you want! If you don't wanna talk about it then that's okay too - "

"It's fine. I was just... Are you really that interested?" was Luka's question to her. Was it that odd to ask her of that?

Miku shrugged. "Well, if you want, I can tell you about the city if you want, but maybe you already know all about it from your books or your master. Ehe, if it's that, then there's really no point..."

She heard the sound of what seemed like a book closing, and she watched as Luka adjusted her sitting position subtly before looking up at her. "No... I'm fine with it. I don't go out to the city at all, so I wouldn't mind hearing about it as a trade for me telling you about domestic life."

Success! Miku gleefully hummed, ears perked up as she giggled to herself and nodded again energetically towards her pink-eared friend. "Thanks! So, um, let's see. What's your master like?"

She heard Luka hum to herself thoughtfully. "Lily is her name. She's in high school - almost about to graduate in the spring. She's great," Miku could see the soft look on Luka's face as she spoke about her master, "I consider her more as my best friend than my owner. She brings me fancy tuna and gives me a home and she always talks to me. I help her if she needs help with something around the house, or if she needs someone to talk to... She's a very nice girl, but I've seen her be a little rough too. Tomboyish, kind of."

"Ehhh, really now..."

"Mm. She goes out often to the city, since her school is there, but I've never made an effort to go with her though, even if she insists on it sometimes."

Miku stopped swinging, digging her feet into the ground. "Why not?" she asked further. Miku was full of questions today, but she couldn't help herself! Why wouldn't Luka want to go out to the city? "The city's a bunch of fun if you know what's there to do!"

"That's just it, though," Luka was quiet and Miku wasn't sure why she had suddenly decided to be so soft about it. "I don't know what's really in the city, despite reading about it. I've heard bad things about it, mostly." Looking down at her, Miku could tell that Luka wasn't too pleased with this topic of conversation.

"It's... a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'm scared of going past the neighborhood."

"Eh?!"

Scared? Luka? Of the city? Miku didn't understand how could any of that happen. The city was a great place, after all! It was lively and it was filled with different things all the time, she didn't understand how Luka could be afraid of it. Her hands gripped tightly onto the ropes of the swing to keep herself steady. "But Luka, I don't get it! The city's really fun - there's a bunch to do out there and everyone's really friendly! I don't think you'd find any problems with it."

She watched as Luka shook her head and, for some reason, Miku felt a bit disheartened at the sight.

"I... I don't know, Miku. The city doesn't seem like a place for me, anyway. I like being here at Lily's house, I like having an owner. Even if it's to go out, I don't think I'd be comfortable." Luka was looking at the ground, and she couldn't tell what the pink cat was thinking at all. She couldn't see the look on her face, and that was the only way she could have known what she was feeling. Miku bit her lip, then stood up.

She moved herself so that she was kneeling in front of Luka, a lopsided smile on her face. "Come on Luka, it's really not that bad! The city is kinda big, yeah, but if you go out with Lily then it'll be alright! She'd definitely know her way around well enough to take you somewhere fun. H-Hey, don't look like that..."

Luka's face had fallen unsure, and Miku saw that maybe what she was saying wasn't really getting through to her. She stood up again, taking a step back and sheepishly, she laughed everything off.

"S-Sorry, Luka, maybe it's just because I'm a street cat... Ah, well, hey, look at the time! It's like, probably 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and that's the perfect time to go back home. Hey, thanks for letting me use your swing by the way!"

Miku had already started making her way to climb over the fence again. She didn't care for the door that was already there. Might as well go home the way she came in, right?

Luka had stood up, her mouth had moved to say something, but Miku already had her legs swung over the fence, on the other side, and she cut off whatever the pink cat was about to say. "See you some other time, Luka! I hope your master comes home from school soon!" was all that she said, before beginning her walk back to the alleyways of the city.

The only thing that was on her mind on the way back was the thought of bringing Luka to like the city the way she did.


End file.
